Sensors and other transducers are used in a variety of applications. For example, an electronic device may include a sensor that is fabricated on a semiconductor die and generates electrical signals indicative of the magnitude of the sensed property that is exerted on or is otherwise proximate to the semiconductor die. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are widely used in a variety of sensing applications. For example, a MEMS pressure sensor may be implemented on a semiconductor die to generate electrical signals indicative of the amount of pressure exerted on the semiconductor die (or a portion thereof), or a MEMS accelerometer may generate electrical signals indicative of the rate and/or direction of acceleration of the semiconductor die. Various applications use multiple different MEMS sensors to measure different properties, as desirable. For example, in an automotive application, a MEMS pressure sensor may be utilized to measure tire pressure while a MEMS accelerometer may be utilized to measure the vehicle acceleration.
In practice, process variations affect characteristics of MEMS components fabricated on a semiconductor die, which, in turn, can undesirably influence the measurement of the sensed property. For example, process variations can cause some dies or MEMS sensors to fail to comply with design specifications without some additional calibration. However, individually calibrating devices designed to respond to a physical stimulus can be time consuming or costly. For example, a semiconductor wafer may include a relatively large number of MEMS sensors fabricated at various locations thereon, where process variations associated with the relative location of each sensor may cause that sensor to perform differently than other sensors on the same wafer. Thus, calibrating the sensors traditionally requires subjecting each sensor to a physical stimulus, with the resulting output being measured and utilized to determine calibration coefficients on a device by device basis. Accordingly, it is desirable to be able to calibrate sensors responsive to physical stimulus in a quicker and more cost effective manner. While various calibration techniques have been proposed, they often entail resonant frequency, which can be difficult to measure in overdamped systems.